Texans find themselves in unfamiliar territory — on top of AFC South

When the Texans and quarterback Matt Leinart return from their open date, they will play at Jacksonville on Nov. 27 – the first of three more games against AFC South opponents.

The Texans are 3-0 in the division. They’ve defeated Indianapolis, Tennessee and Jacksonville by a combined score of 99-28.

The Texans, whose best division record is 4-2, visit the Colts on Dec. 22 and finish the season on Jan. 1 against the Titans at Reliant Stadium.

The Texans (7-3) have a 11/2-game lead over Tennessee (5-4), the only other AFC South team in playoff contention.

“They’re a good team, and we played really well against them,” offensive tackle Eric Winston said about the 41-7 victory in Nashville. “They’ll be there at the end. Hopefully, it won’t come down to then (Jan. 1), but if it does, it’ll be a big game.

“The one thing you can be sure about Jacksonville is that they’ll always be competitive with that defense. If (Maurice) Jones-Drew gets rolling, it’s hard to stop them.

The Texans’ lead in the division will shrink to one game if the Titans win at Atlanta on Sunday.

“I’m not worried about any teams in our division because I have confidence in our guys and what we’re doing,” inside linebacker DeMeco Ryans said. “The Titans are playing good ball and hanging around, but we beat them and have another game against them.”

Comment: Matt Leinart replaces the injured Matt Schaub at quarterback for a team with a four-game winning streak. Leinart must do a good job of managing the eighth-ranked offense and third-ranked running game. If he doesn’t turn it over, the Texans should continue to win because of the running game and top-ranked defense.

Playoff chances: Excellent. They play against three rookie quarterbacks and possibly four if the Titans play Jake Locker in the last game.

Titans

Record: 5-4, 1-2

Remaining games

Nov. 20 at Falcons

Nov. 27 vs. Bucs

Dec. 4 at Bills

Dec. 11 vs. Saints

Dec. 18 at Colts

Dec. 24 vs. Jaguars

Jan. 1 at Texans

Comment: They rank last in rushing, but Chris Johnson is coming off a 100-yard performance. Matt Hasselbeck has 14 touchdown passes and seven interceptions even though he lost star receiver Kenny Britt. Their defense is coming off a tremendous effort against Cam Newton in their 30-3 victory at Carolina.

Playoff chances: Slim because of a tough schedule that has them playing four games against teams with winning records.

Jaguars

Record: 3-6, 2-1

Remaining games

Nov. 20 at Browns

Nov. 27 vs. Texans

Dec. 5 vs. Chargers

Dec. 11 vs. Bucs

Dec. 15 at Falcons

Dec. 24 at Titans

Jan. 1 vs. Colts

Comment: If the Jaguars can beat the Browns, they’ll have a chance to get on a roll with three consecutive home games. The problem is they rank 32nd in offense, including 32nd in passing. They have the fewest red-zone TDs (seven). But they also have Maurice Jones-Drew and the fourth-ranked defense.

Playoff chances: None.

Colts

Record: 0-10, 0-3

Remaining games

Nov. 27 vs. Panthers

Dec. 4 at Patriots

Dec. 11 at Ravens

Dec. 18 vs. Titans

Dec. 22 vs. Texans

Jan. 1 at Jaguars

Comment: They’re running away with the Andrew Luck pick. Every other team has at least two victories. They’ve been terrible at home and on the road. They’re in good position to become the second 0-16 team to secure the top pick, expected to be Luck, the Stanford QB. Do they select him as Peyton Manning’s successor or trade the pick?